Peak Reliability And PJM Connext Agree To Jointly Explore Reliability Services And Markets In The West

PRESS RELEASE PR Newswire

Dec. 7, 2017, 01:47 PM

VANCOUVER, Wash. and VALLEY FORGE, Pa., Dec. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Peak Reliability (Peak), the Reliability Coordinator for the majority of the Western Interconnection, and PJM Connext announced today a formal agreement to explore reliability services and markets in the West. PJM Connext is a wholly-owned, non-regulated subsidiary of PJM Interconnection, operator of the largest wholesale electricity market in the world and of the largest grid in North America.

Talking about the relative strengths of Peak and PJM, Marie Jordan, president and CEO of Peak said, "PJM has an established track record as an innovative and cost-effective provider of system operations and market services. Our partnership seeks to leverage Peak's West-wide system model, PJM's markets expertise, and our combined processes, people and tools. Both Peak and PJM share a strong commitment to developing solutions, tailored to the Western Interconnection."

"PJM has extensive experience developing and implementing markets in a timely, cost-effective manner," said Andrew L. Ott, president and CEO of PJM Interconnection. "We believe that our partnership will lead to a viable and credible alternative structure in the West, and we're looking forward to working with the Peak team to develop that option."

Peak and PJM Connext will begin review of potential reliability services, market design, governance, product suites, rules, technology and organization. That process will include an outreach program to industry leaders and stakeholders in the Western Interconnection. The two companies expect to report the results of the review by the end of March 2018.

Peak Reliability : provides situational awareness and real-time monitoring of its Reliability Coordination (RC) Area in the Western Interconnection. Its RC Area of more than 1.6 million square miles encompasses all or parts of 14 Western States, British Columbia and Baja California, Mexico. Peak coordinates reliable operations with 37 Balancing Authorities and 56 Transmission Operators across more than 110,000 miles of transmission. Peak operates two reliability coordination offices, one in Vancouver, Washington and the other in Loveland, Colorado. For the latest information about Peak, visit www.peakrc.com.

PJM Interconnection, founded in 1927, ensures the reliability of the high-voltage electric power system serving 65 million people in all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. PJM coordinates and directs the operation of the region's transmission grid, which includes over 82,000 miles of transmission lines; administers a competitive wholesale electricity market; and plans regional transmission expansion improvements to maintain grid reliability and relieve congestion. PJM's regional grid and market operations produce annual savings of $2.8 billion to $3.1 billion. For the latest news about PJM, visit PJM Inside Lines at insidelines.pjm.com.